Craig LeHoullier, author of “Epic Tomatoes,” is a former chemist who has grown more than 1,200 tomato varieties and introduced more than 100 varieties to the trade. He recommends heirloom varieties.

Cherokee Purple, one of the most popular heirloom tomatoes, was introduced to the larger gardening world by Craig LeHoullier after he received a letter with seeds from John D. Green in 1990. Green said they were given to him by a neighbor, who in turn had received them a century earlier from Cherokee Indians.

Lillian’s Heirloom is named for Lillian Bruce, a gardener in Tennessee who grew this variety for years.

Sun Gold cherry tomatoes provide “fullness and complexity with a nice snappy bite,” Craig LeHoullier writes in “Epic Tomatoes.” And for that reason, it’s the only hybrid variety that finds a place in his garden.

Craig LeHoullier loves tomatoes. Not in the pass-me-the-spaghetti-sauce sense as much as in the gardening sense.

He is the tomato adviser for Seed Savers Exchange, the Iowa-based nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving heirloom plants, and has grown more than 1,200 tomato varieties. He has been involved with tomatoes for more than 30 years and has introduced more than 100 varieties.

Tomatoes are his passion.

That’s evident in his first book, “Epic Tomatoes: How to Select & Grow the Best Varieties of All Time” (Storey). In it, LeHoullier – a former chemist who introduced the Cherokee Purple heirloom tomato to the gardening world – crusades for heirloom tomatoes, an area that combines gardening, gastronomy and history.

Unlike hybrid plants that are deliberately crossbred to produce characteristics such as disease-resistance and firm flesh (in part because that allows them to be shipped thousands of miles), heirlooms are those older varieties that are naturally pollinated by insects or wind. Their seeds produce the same fruit or vegetable or flower every time. That tomato your Italian grandpa grew every year, from seeds he received from his grandparents and collected at the end of each growing season? That’s an heirloom. Though they may not ship well, and may be less than pretty, their flavor trumps the aesthetics.

“To me the important part is to keep the names and histories and (the fact that) we can trace them,” LeHoullier said from his North Carolina home. “It’s incumbent for us who are interested to get as much information as possible from people (who grow heirlooms) while they’re still alive.”

Following is an edited transcript of the conversation.

Q. Do we have a number on how many varieties of heirlooms there are ?

A. We don’t and it’s because of just the nature of how many came into being. When tomatoes first came across to America and became popular in the mid-1850s, it was some reds, maybe a yellow, maybe a pink. A lot of (today’s) diversity popped up in people’s gardens – mutations, bees getting busy doing crosses. And the observant gardeners slapped a name on it. Some came over from Europe as well. There are probably 10,000 varieties. Genetic testing would be the only way to decipher (if they are distinct varieties). Their future depends on seed-collecting and being replanted.

Q. And do more keep turning up?

A. In any given year 100, 150, 200 different tomato plants cross my desk. You have to get very lucky to find something new. What’s happened, the number of tomatoes is proliferating because more people are becoming interested in growing varieties, heirlooms. More people are aware if you find something different, instead of tossing it, grow it. It’s amazing how many are proliferating. It’s going to be very difficult to untangle all those.

Q. As good and tasty as some of the standard varieties are, we do get bored with what the garden center offers. People want to try something new or different.

A. If you look through gardens, they’re a reflection of (the growers’) personalities. I have the personality of a seeker, I get bored with the ordinary. If I try Ben & Jerry’s chocolate ice cream and I like it, that doesn’t mean I’ll stick with it. I’ll say Ben & Jerry’s makes 100 varieties and I want to try them all. That seeker mentality carries to gardeners.

Q. As a seeker, what do you grow?

A. (The hybrid) Sun Gold, Cherokee Purple, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom. Those three are always in my garden, but I make sure I’ll add 30 or 40 (others) to see if I can knock the king off the mountain.

Q. There are so many aspects of each tomato.

A. The diversity gives people who like to eat and cook an immense palette to work from. When I plant my garden I could look at it as, I have 100 plants. Some have lighter green fruit, some darker, some leaves are like potato leaves. Diversity gives you a lot to grow and choose from, and it gives you the opportunity to create a teaching garden, share the stories of the people who gave you the seeds, to promote seed sharing. What I’d like to find is that 1 in 10,000 or 1 in 100,000 young person who’s as nutty about this as me. They’ll keep this on.

Q. The book is more than just a lineup of tomatoes. You have trouble-shooting tips, planning and planting ideas, a long list of resources. Plus the colorful history of so many of these heirlooms. It’s a tomato-grower’s bible.

A. The book is about tomatoes, but I hope what comes across is so much more. History, community, self-sufficiency. If the book does anything, it captures my excitement about what I do and why I love it. I want it to be a book only I could have written.

Q. What sort of flavor range is there among heirlooms?

A. That’s a fun aspect to the book, busting some of the myths. Like, a typical tomato color tastes like A, B or C. But it’s not about the color. It’s the genes packed in the tomato. There are sweet, bland, acid examples among every color. I’m sure chefs have field days with these. You can treat tomatoes like a great chocolate or wine.

Q. Gardeners get buried in catalogs with dozens of tomato photos. How do you make a choice?

A. It’s like going into a restaurant where the wine list is like a phone book: The sommelier will advise you. This is the same. Google is the gardener’s friend. Google, say, Cherokee Purple, and there will be flavor discussions and links to discussion groups. A lot of this is research. There will be people like me who take questions. Talk to other gardeners, go to a farmers market where you have someone who is offering plants they’ve grown. Go on Twitter. Go on Facebook. Join discussion groups. Start slow. But get out there and ask questions, build your knowledge and do good planning.

Q. A curious person can go into their grocery and grab the most interesting looking heirloom tomato. But that doesn’t really cut it.

A. Not only don’t we know the history, we don’t know how they’re handled, if they’re picked green for shipping, how they are ripened. (If the flavor isn’t optimal) we can’t let a negative experience of buying an heirloom at one of these stores affect us. Many of the best tasting varieties, we grow them and eat them from June to September and we gorge on them. Then we can them and use the canned ones till they’re done. To me, those offseason tomatoes (in the store) are great for a recipe if we have to have them, but they’re always going to be more expensive and not as good as during the prime time.

Q. So they’re not good ambassadors for the heirloom tomato.

A. What am I buying? You have no way of knowing. You can save the seeds, but don’t give them names. They likely already have names. I wouldn’t use them for seed saving as much as for making off-season salsa.

Q. If a gardener has room for only a dozen tomato plants, do you recommend a small variety, maybe four plants of three varieties, or no variety, all dozen the same?

A. Each year the only variety I plant multiple plants of is Sun Gold. I’ve never tasted a tomato like that. We have four to six plants of that. Maybe a Green Giant or Lillian’s Yellow. They may want to plant a fairly recent hybrid that grows well every-where, like Big Beef. They may want a cherry like Sun Gold. Maybe something with history, (such as) Cherokee Purple or Andrew Rahart’s Jumbo Red. In that way you get a couple of hybrids, a couple of historical ones, a couple of cherry tomatoes.

Q. Are there any heirlooms that came out of the Chicago area?

A. I think a lot popped out of different regions. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois seem to be important regions. The Livingston Seed Co. (out of Ohio) from 1870 to 1920 or so, did all the important seed developments. The book talks about it and other companies that made immense contributions.

Q. Are there certain heirlooms that might be better than others?

A. I would think the sky is the limit. There should be no limitations. Just be clear on the growing techniques: good soil, sufficient sun, water and care. You don’t plant and go on vacation for a month, then come home and wonder where your garden went. It takes care. Every bit of care comes back to you a hundredfold.

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